Posted on 06/04/2006 3:22:17 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
Vandals smashed 30 windows of a Toronto mosque and damaged nearby cars after the arrest of 17 suspected al Qaeda sympathizers accused of planning bomb attacks. Canadian Muslims expressed fear on Sunday that a backlash had begun.
The vandals struck overnight at the west-end mosque, a police official said on Sunday. A second official said he had no information on any link between the incident and the arrests, which began late Friday.
"The actual weapon that was used to break (the windows) is unknown," said secretary Ameer Ali of the International Muslims Organization of Toronto, which houses the mosque. "We believe it has to be a heavy instrument, possibly a sledgehammer or a pick ax, or it could even be a crowbar."
About five cars in a parking lot next to the mosque also had their windows broken, Ali said. He said the two-story mosque sees about 500 worshipers daily and the organization said the mosque is one of the largest in North America.
Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair told a meeting with Islamic community leaders, "it is certainly possible that that damage was motivated by hate. Hatred in any form, and certainly in its expressions of violence and damaged property, will not be tolerated in our community."
Mohammad Alam, president of the Islamic Foundation of Toronto, said the vandalism may be the beginning of religiously motivated reprisals against the country's Muslim population, estimated at more than 600,000.
He said he backed the government's efforts to combat terrorism, but emphasized nothing had been proven in the suspected bomb plot, which has gripped the country.
"Like everybody knows, this is so far all allegation," Alam said. "To us, it doesn't matter what religion they belong to -- if they're a terrorist, they're a terrorist, they should be punished according to the law."
Tarek Fatah, spokesman for the Muslim Canadian Congress, said he felt "a mixture of shock and relief" following the arrests. "It's too close to home," he said.
The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations asked Muslims to co-operate with security agencies to fight terrorism.
The suspects, all from Ontario, remained in custody and their next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.
Police say the arrested men had amassed enough explosives to build a bomb larger than that used in 1995 against the federal building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which killed 168 people, and they were planning to blow up targets in Ontario, Canada's political and economic heart.
The arrested men, all Canadian residents or citizens, were charged with terrorism-related offenses and made a brief court appearance on Saturday. The 12 adults were sent to a high-security prison outside Toronto while the five youths were dispatched to area jails.
Police do not anticipate more arrests, but "reams" of evidence still must be analyzed, said Acting Sgt. Michele Paradis of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Lawyers for some of the suspects expressed dismay at the presence of armed officers inside the court during Saturday's hearing, saying it was prejudicial to their case.
Family and supporters said the allegations were motivated by suspicion toward Muslims.
"It's going to come down to nothing, that I'm sure of," said Mohammed Abdelhaleen, whose son Shareef is among the accused. "I'm suggesting there to be no foundation, for any of them. They are playing a political game."
Police said the group had acquired three tonnes of ammonium nitrate -- triple the amount used in the Oklahoma City bombing.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service said the men had become "adherents of a violent ideology inspired by al Qaeda."
They will never compare it to November 9th, 1938. That night is going to look like childrens games if the islamics do not leave western society, or purge the radicals from their midst. When the Canadians turn on them, they should get a clue.
Some people, even if not Muslim, push back sometimes.
How many churches are defiled and burned to the ground in islamic countries every year?
Right on.
LOL ......... yes it seems patently absurd!
****
Good question!
I hear you.
LOL
Well DUH! The tallywackers, uh, taliban would lock everyone inside first.
Well, given how these men were home-grown terrorists who were disaffected because of the perceived persecution against Muslims both at home in Canada and abroad, retribution against their mosques only lends credibility to their fears.
Because, unlike the Taliban or Al Queda, he only talks big about killing innocent people. The Taliban or AQ are much more than keyboard jockeys.
You must have missed the "allahu achbar" before the planes hit. Enjoy your dhimmitude, but do not come crying to us when your islamic masters turn on you. I do not condone the plotting to kill innocent people. Boys will be boys with a sledgehammer sometimes. It is just a building where your masters meet to plot killing us. And they use them for weapons storage, as well as command and control. When they choose to subject women and children to dangerous situations; what are you going to do?
I refer you to my comment #57. And please let me help you with your reading comprehension: I was not excusing the jihadists behavior, but merely equating it to the comment to which I was responding. That is a huge difference.
"The actual weapon that was used to break (the windows) is unknown," said secretary Ameer Ali. "Also, we can't figure out how all those rocks got onto the floor."
I would not put it passed these muslims to have vandalized their own mosque in order to drup up liberal sympathy. Or red-blooded hockey fans did what they thought needed to be done. There are a lot of non-liberal Canadians that can't stand how Pu$$ified certain elements of the government have become and resent that philosophy beign forced down their throats.
If any of these peckerheads ever blows up a building here, these
Fukers will see what a good ol' fashioned Canuck backlash really is.
We've tolerated alien cultures in our Country on the basis that
they keep themselves under control and/or only kill their own kind
like the Mafia and our Black commumity.
They mess with us and they're openning up a big can of wup-ass.
They ain't even reporting the half of it. LOL.
In the aftermath of 9-11, many Mosques were attacked in Southern Ontario, but not much was made of it in the news. One in particular, was burned practically to the ground and "Jesus Rules" was spray painted on one of the remaining walls.
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